Legends Of The Fall: Lamar Thomas

As part of our on-going series of articles and interviews with University of Miami football players, we sat down with former Hurricane wide receiver Lamar Thomas (LT).  The interview was held on Wednesday, June 11 at The Titanic Brewery near the UM Campus where we had a chance to have dinner a Hurricane Legend. 

Lamar (who could often be found at UM baseball games this year) was fired up and forthcoming in his responses to questions posed by Canespace blogger Cat5 (seen here at The Ti with OcalaCane), myself (86Cane) and many other fans here at Canespace who submitted questions prior to the interview. 

LT was also very generous with his time as he spent almost three hours with us at The Ti sharing stories about old school Canes.  We laughed a lot, learned what it takes to be successful at The U and also a little about what made those late 80's early 90's Hurricane teams so dominant. 

LT, who wore #36, played for the Canes from 1989 to 1992 and was part of infamous "Ruthless Posse".  He not only helped UM QB Gino Torretta win a Heisman Trophy but left UM as the Canes leading all-time receiver, passing another UM legend and recent NFL Hall Of Fame inductee Michael Irvin (The Playmaker) in the process.  LT was later passed in the UM record books by Canes WR Reggie Wayne, who now catches passes on Sundays from Peyton Manning. 

Here is our interview with Hurricane Legend of the Fall, Lamar Thomas:

Canespace (86): Tell us about your HS playing days (in Gainesville)?

Lamar Thomas (36): I wanted to be a Quarterback. I could have been a good QB.  They had me playing at Cornerback in my first year and I scored like nine Touchdowns, as a DB! That year late in the season I went up against Ronald Lewis (who later played at FSU) who was senior and he scored like three TDs in the game against me and we lost 21-20.  I was only a freshman.  The coaches asked me if I would play WR, and I said hell no, I don't want to get hit, I want to hit people! Well they moved me over anyway and the rest is history.

86: Who recruited you to Miami?

36: Don Soldinger recruited me to The U.  He was a no nonsense guy and he didn't mess around.  He came up to Gainesville and he looked me in the eye and said:  "Look don't waste my time.  Do we have a chance with you or not?" I remember he came to my HS and I saw that "U" on his shirt and I was all excited.  I wanted to play at Miami.  I know this sounds stupid now but I remember asking him, "Do you know Michael Irvin?"  I was a huge fan of "The Playmaker".  I wanted to be the next Michael Irvin.

86: What was it like when you arrived on campus?

36: I remember I was in the weight room when I first met "Ax" (then UM WR/TE coach Hubbard Alexander now the Head Coach at Melrose HS in Memphis, TN a UM pipeline).  Now here I was, this tall skinny kid struggling under the weights and he had never met me.  He asked someone "Who's this skinny kid" and I told him Coach, I'm Lamar Thomas and I'm going to be the next great reciever at Miami.  He just looked at me funny and said "You better stay in here 24/7 then!"  I told him coach I may never be good in here (the weight room) but I will catch the ball, I promise you that!

86: Tell us about practice at Greentree Field. 

36: It was coach (Art) Kehoe that really challenged me every day in practice. He'd say things like, "Ryan McNeil (the Canes starting CB) is gonna eat your lunch today" or "You'll never get off the line against Kenny Berry".  I went up against McNeil, Berry and Roland Smith in practice every day.  Bubba McDowel played safety.  They were all good, but Ryan (McNeil) was the best.  Practices were like game day. I knew whoever I was going to go up against in the game was going to be EASY. The guys I faced in practice were way better than they were.

86: When we interviewed Rohan Marley he told us that the Canes defense felt like "Lions on the Serengeti" out there (on Greentree).  How did the Canes offense feel?

36: Rohan said that?  Well, we were like...(LT thinks for a minute then says), we felt like B-52 bombers out there. We were always ready to go deep and drop some bombs on their heads.  Let the "lions" deal with that!

86: What games stand out for you during your UM Career?

36: It was the game against BYU and Ty Detmer that out me on the map.  I think I had like 9 catches in that game.  I was playing as a freshman between two seniors, Wesley Carroll and Randal Hill.  I was just glad to be on the field and here I was catching passes! 

Another game I remember well is scoring the game winning TD and beating FSU my senior year in "Wide Right II".  I remember FSU scored first and I kept telling the guys on the sideline not to get down.  I told them the score was 7-7.  We always felt that we had a 7 point advantage at home.  Here is something that a lot of people don' know.  I would listen to the "Warchant" song all day long before the FSU game.  When they started playing it in the stadium I would tell T-Buck (FSU DB Terrell Buckley) or Corey Sawyer (FSU DB) "Hey, they are playing my song".  They would look at me like I was crazy or something.  Mickey Andrews (FSU Defensive Coordinator) put Buckley on me every third down play because he knew I was Gino's go to guy. I wound up beat T-Buck for the game winning TD.  When I did that I knew I belonged. 

86: Tell us more about preparing for the big games?

36: I couldn't sleep.  I'd be so amped up I'd be up until like four in the morning.  I wouldn't put on deodorant or brush my teeth.  This was war!

86: Why couldn't you sleep?

36: Anticipation of the kill. The game against Houston and David Klingler is a good example.  They were all hyped up (by the media), but we knew we would destroy them.  Their DBs took a picture of a skeleton wearing a #36 jersey the week of the game.  That was their first mistake.  Now I was always hyped up for games, but that game?  I was crazy!  We beat them like 40 to 9, it wasn't even close.

Join us for Part II of the Lamar Thomas interview on Sunday at 8PM.  Lamar talks about the NFL draft, his time in the NFL, his teammates at the Bucs and Dolphins, the current Hurricane players that could be special and much more!   

Comments

[pb(CSHOF09)]

Reaction to early season disappointment is the key.

What up Solar.

[solarcane]

hey peebster.
good point
Win or lose the UF game is going to work on these kids minds well into the season.
peace

[CanezNC]

I'm fine with #41...Canes have to earn respect and deserve very little after 5-7. BTW, Tex A&M is #65 in Rivals pre-season. Canes have to win that one...

[solarcane]

Did anyone on here ever believe in their lifetime they would be hoping the Canes could break into the top 25 for two consecutive seasons?

peace

[AvaCane96]

to the people that said rivals says nothing about Boynton considering UM...idk if it's true or not, but they're definitely saying it:

https://secure.rivals.com/barrier_noentry.asp?ReturnTo=miami%2Erivals%2Ecom&sid=903&script=content.asp&cid=779012&fid=&tid=&mid=&rid=

might be out-dated since it's from late Feb...but it's still on the front page of the BB recruiting page.

[SOUP]

Did anyone on here ever believe in their lifetime they would be hoping the Canes could break into the top 25 for two consecutive seasons?

peace

Posted by: solarcane | June 22, 2008 at 05:37 PM

After 2000-2003...NO!

After 2006...YES!

[Cavaleer]

DJ, I when I say there at the same time I mean on the field in their prime together. Those three were basically a year away from each and their primes. Wayne left before Moss hit his, Moss left before Johnson hit his, one year each.

Whereas Williams, Copeland and LT were all together in their primes.

Now if the '99, '00 and '01 WRs had been together that would without question be the greatest.

[SuperCooper]

Screw Urban Meyer, what a prick:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/orl-bianchi2208jun22,0,4542643.column?page=2

"It turned out to be a positive. Now, don't get me wrong, if ESPN had shown some of our rivals playing in their spring game with 12,000 people in the stands, that wouldn't have been a positive; that would have been a negative."

God I hate him. I know I have said we have no shot against them, but boy would it be sweet if by some miracle we pulled it off. Just to see the reaction of Meyer and his top 1% of 1%. Condescending **********.

[solarcane]

a great article with lots of insight into how Schnell made us all true believers.

Nebraska May Be In For Double Trouble
December 26, 1983 (SI)

Nebraska May Be In For Double Trouble
Bound for the Orange Bowl, Miami has been winning hand over fist for Coach Howard Schnellenberger

Miami , that boggling town, is in love. It doesn't fall in love all that often, being the wary, conned-out kind of place that it is, but it's in love with Howard Schnellenberger . For years the longest name in football coaching—15, count 'em, 15 letters—Schnellenberger is now the hottest. Not since Don Shula has Miami been so smitten.

Right now Schnellenberger's in love with Miami , too. He'd have to be to keep turning down the money other places keep shoving at him to come coach. He stays because of love—he loves the town, he loves the University of Miami , his glamorous working wife, Beverlee, loves the local real estate market—and because he has a team that thinks it can beat No. 1 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 2. What he doesn't have is any more tickets for the game, so don't ask.

Miami thinks it can beat Nebraska because it believes in Schnellenberger. The Hurricanes were created in his image. Tony Fitzpatrick, the feisty, vital middle guard whom nobody in the country recruited except Liberty Baptist College and Schnellenberger, has set a speed record for recovering from a torn biceps tendon in his left arm just so he can line up against the dreaded Cornhuskers and their 545-yards-and-a-crowd-of-busted-bodies offense. Fitzpatrick dreads facing the Huskers the way a hungry soldier dreads the mess hall. He says it's "the dream of my life come true."

But does he really believe 11-point-underdog Miami has a chance? Fitzpatrick smiles the same tight-lipped smile Schnellenberger smiles—except with Schnellenberger you can't see the lips, only the corners of his Captain Kangaroo mustache lifting. It's the smile people smile when they know something you don't know. Fitzpatrick says he "can hardly wait" to hear Schnellenberger's inspirational—and always eminently believable—remarks the week of the game.

Everybody believes Schnellenberger. And why not? In the first place, he keeps doing whatever he says he's going to do. Two years ago, before Miami 's nationally televised game against Notre Dame, ABC proposed that Schnellenberger allow a camera into the Hurricanes' dressing room at halftime to record his remarks. Schnellenberger demurred. He said, "It could be pretty lopsided by half-time." The ABC producer said he could sympathize with that, with Miami playing fabled Notre Dame and all.

"No," said Schnellenberger, "I mean we might be so far ahead I might not have to say anything." The corners of his mustache lifted. The producer said he would tape Schnellenberger's pregame remarks. Miami led 30-6 at the half and won 37-15.

When Schnellenberger arrived on campus in 1979, the Hurricanes had had a losing record in eight of their last 10 seasons. Since then they've gone 40-16. This season, after opening with a 28-3 loss at Florida , Miami has reeled off 10 straight victories and climbed to No. 4 in the nation. And at home the Hurricanes have been a dreadnought under Schnellenberger, winning 24 of 26 games there, including two routs of Notre Dame and a stunning 1981 upset of then top-ranked Penn State . The Orange Bowl—need Nebraska be reminded?—is, of course, home for the Hurricanes.

In the second place, Schnellenberger looks like a guy who does what he says he's going to do. He's not the steely, slick Kirk Douglas type Shula is; he's the hard-eyed, rough-hewn, slightly disheveled John Wayne type you would follow into Comanche territory if you could ride in his horse's shadow. Schnellenberger fits the Bear Bryant image better than anyone you'll find, which is understandable because Schnellenberger played for two years under Bryant at Kentucky and coached under him for five years at Alabama . Moreover, he smokes a pipe, the eternal symbol, Schnellenberger says, mustache dancing, "of maturity, patience and tolerance. Did you ever meet a pipe smoker you couldn't trust?"

Schnellenberger easily rivals Shula as the most visible man in Miami—or, as he puts it during the recruiting season, "the State of Miami ." The State of Miami includes portions of Florida he "annexed, one by one, in the still of the night" from bitter rival University of Florida . Among the purloined territories are Tampa , Orlando and Daytona Beach . They're some of the richest areas in the nation for high school football talent, and Miami now mines them for 85% of its players, compared with 30% a decade ago. How did the Gators take this annexation? "Lying down," says Schnellenberger.

Even more than Shula , Schnellenberger involves himself in the entire Miami scene, especially the charities—Easter Seal telethons (as chairman), Boy Scout recruiting, programs for drug-dependency groups and the ailing aged, and, his favorite, the Partners for Youth program that has raised $1 million for disadvantaged kids. Lately, university President Tad Foote has been using Schnellenberger to recruit honor students for the school. Two weeks ago he addressed 400 of them in New York City . "By comparison, Shula is a one-dimensional guy," says a mutual friend. "A great coach, but all football and very commercial. Howard will sell you Miami . Shula will sell you a Ford."

peace

[dj moonbat@gmail.com]

"Wayne left before Moss hit his, Moss left before Johnson hit his, one year each."

Wayne and Moss both graduated 2000. Andre King and Andre Johnson were the #3 and #4 wideouts that year.

[SOUP]

CANESPACE CONTENT ALERT UPDATE:

NEW LT FEATURE WILL BE POSTED IN T-MINUS 56 MINUTES AND COUNTING...

[SOUP]

dj...working HARD for living, doing heavy lifting, major research and the like!

[dj moonbat@gmail.com]

D'oh! 'Cept I forgot Daryl Jones. But basically, the WR corps was Moss and Wayne in 2000, end of memo. Shockey was the third go-to guy.

If I were to stack up Shockey, Wayne and Moss in 2000 against Copeland, Thomas and Williams, I would probably go with 2000 as our best overall receiving trio.

[CoCane]

That Boynton article from February is old. He ain't fukkin' with da "U" right now. Haith has missed on all the bigtime recruits from his backyard the last 2 years.

08'
PF Eloy Vargas 4* top 50 (Broward)
SF Ray Shipman 4* top 75 (Dade)
PF David Loubeau 4* top 100 (Broward)

09'
SG Kenny Boynton 5* top 10 (Broward)
PF Rakeem Buckles 4* top 50 (Dade)

Haith did better when he was losing???
05'
PG Denis Clemente 4* top 65 (Dade)
SF Brian Asbury 4* top 65 (Dade)
SF Adrian Thomas 4* top 100 (Broward)
06'
PF Dwayne Collins 4* top 100 (Dade)
07'
PG Eddie Rios 4* top 100 (Dade)

BUT STILL MISSED OUT ON...
05'
SF Alonzo Gee 4* top 50 (Palm Beach)
C Abdul Herrera 4* top 75 (Dade)
06' & 07'
PF Ryan Ried 4* top 100 (Broward)
SF Alvin Mitchell 4* top 100 (Broward)
C John Kreft 4* top 50 (Broward)
PF Zach Peakock 4* top 100 (Dade)

[Cat5 Cane]

86...
Nice article... even though half those questions were mine... HEH, HEH... It's all good.LOL